Since the beginning of fly fishing, anglers have been trying to figure out ways to maximize their ability to present a quality, stealthily fly to an awaiting trout. From the perfect dry fly cast to the best way to drift a streamer, quality presentation is everything! So why should nymphing be any different? And that's where the Tungsten Bead comes in!

The Tungsten Bead allows for a nymph to sink down to the desired water column three times faster than most conventional Beads. So when an angler is able to present a size 18, tungsten bead headed Pheasant Tail nymph to an awaiting trout that is holding four feet down in fast water and they can make it look as if it's drifting naturally, the hook up ratio will increase exponentially. Due to the fact that the Tungsten Bead is heavier than other beads, anglers can use less weight(split shots, sicking leaders, oversized flies, etc) and still get the fly to sick at an exceptional rate. Most anglers know that skimming a dry fly across the top of the water surface and having it look "unnatural" will drastically lower their catch percentage, yet they don't tend to think that "pulling" or "dragging" a nymph under the surface will have the same outcome.

The general consensus on the web is that Tungsten Beads cost so much more than traditional beads, but let's do the "catch rate" math and see what the outcome would be.(one missed trout = one bead) (Hypothetically :) )

Just for fun, lets say that a quality presented fly would increase your catch rate by 50% per Bead, per missed trout. So if you potentially missed 20 trout because of a poorly presented nymph and by just adding a Tungsten Bead, you would only miss 10. That mean your paying $3.60 to miss 20 trout and $5.00 to catch 10 trout. When you look at it with this perspective, the price doesn't seem to come into play at all.

Anglers will pay more for dry flies that float better because they are a higher quality tied fly, they will pay more for streamers that are larger, with more flash and more hooks, so why not pay more for Tungsten Beads? All three of these lead anglers to the same outcome, a better presented, high quality looking fly that allows for more tight line battles!

Tungsten Beads may be more expensive, but to Yosemite Fly Fishing Guide, the time spent catching more trout makes them worth their weight in GOLD!

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Yosemite Fly Fishing Guide is a subsidiary of Yosemite Family Adventures, LLC and they are licensed, insured and bonded for guiding in the state of California. YFFG operates under a Special Use Permit for Yosemite National Park and the Stanislaus National Forest.